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U.S. turning over forward bases in insurgent strongholds to Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, August 22, 2005

BAGHDAD — Iraqi military units have been taking over responsibility from the United States in the area of Tikrit, the hometown of deposed President Saddam Hussein and regarded as an insurgency stronghold.

Iraqi forces have been assigned an area along the Tigris River that would eventually be extended from Baghdad to Mosul.

So far, five Iraqi military brigades have been prepared to assume security responsibility in north-central Iraq. Officials said sustaining the Iraqi units through a logistics, training and viable command infrastructure was a major challenge, Middle East Newsline reported.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, commander of the 42nd Infantry Division and Multinational Division North Central, said Iraqi military units in his area were capable of fighting Sunni insurgents. Taluto, based in Tikrit, commands a coalition force responsible for an area from Baghdad to the Kurdish areas of the north.

"We have turned over or closed nine forward operating bases [to Iraqi forces]," Taluto said during an Aug. 17 briefing. "We will soon turn over the palace that has served as our headquarters."

Taluto said Iraqi forces have been fighting what he termed a "multi-layered insurgency" that included foreign Islamic fighters and Saddam loyalists. He said the forces commanded by Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi were the most violent and have formed an alliance of convenience with Saddam fighters.

Officials said the coalition was pleased with the performance of the five Iraqi brigades in the north-central region. They said the U.S. military was identifying and resolving deficiencies within the units.

"You can count how many guns you gave [the Iraqi security forces], you can count how many trucks," Taluto said. "But there is a feel that you get from these units that is tough to quantify. I know every Iraqi battalion commander in this area. I know their qualities, and you get a feel about the unit."

In northwestern Iraq, the Iraq Army has demonstrated increasing capability. Officials said all of the Iraqi army soldiers in the area have received basic training, and that all three brigades of the Third Iraqi Division were conducting operations.

Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of Multinational Force Northwest, said the Iraqi division was preparing to conduct independent counterinsurgency operations by June 2006. Rodriguez said his area of operation contained about 35,000 Iraqi security forces, including 14,000 police, as well as 10,000 coalition troops.

The U.S. general said the Iraqi Second Division, originally a National Guard force, has four brigades. He said one of the brigades should be ready for independent counterinsurgency missions by December 2005. "All of them are fighting, and all of them are participating," Rodriguez said.


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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